Leicestershire Police refers itself to watchdog over attack probe before Calocane killed three

Police mugshot of Valdo Calocane.
Triple killer Valdo Calocane has been sentenced to a hospital order for the manslaughter of students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar and school caretaker Ian Coates in a spate of attacks in Nottingham. Credit: Nottinghamshire Police

Leicestershire Police has referred itself to a watchdog over its investigation into alleged attacks by Valdo Calocane in May 2023 – weeks before he knifed three people to death in Nottingham.

Paranoid schizophrenic Calocane, 32, was last week handed an indefinite hospital order after stabbing 19-year-old students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, with a dagger in June last year.

He also ran over three other people in the spate of early morning attacks in Nottingham city centre.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was now assessing whether any further action is required after several incidents involving previous police contact with Calocane were "brought to their attention".

Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both aged 19, and Ian Coates, aged 65, were killed by Valdo Calocane.

It emerged during Calocane’s sentencing hearing last week that in early May 2023 – around five weeks before he killed his three victims – Calocane started working in a warehouse in Kegworth, Leicestershire, where he was accused of attacking two employees.

Leicestershire Police said no one was seriously hurt in the factory assault and Calocane had reportedly been escorted off of the site by security before police arrived.

The IOPC said it requested more information about the attack from Leicestershire Police after Calocane’s sentencing last Thursday.

The watchdog also asked Nottinghamshire Police to give more details about a warrant issued for Calocane’s arrest in 2022 after he failed to appear in court for allegedly attacking a police officer.

In a statement, the IOPC said: “Following the sentencing of Valdo Calocane several incidents involving previous police contact with him have been brought to our attention which we were unaware of.

“As a result, we asked Nottinghamshire Police and Leicestershire Police to provide us with information promptly about those incidents to establish whether there are any matters that should be referred to us.

The victims’ families give statements outside Nottingham Crown Court after the sentencing of Valdo Calocane Credit: Jacob King/PA

“We have this afternoon received a referral from Leicestershire Police about its investigation into assaults Valdo Calocane was alleged to have committed on May 5 2023, which we are assessing to determine what further action may be required from us.

“In relation to a warrant being issued for Mr Calocane’s arrest in 2022, Nottinghamshire Police provided us with information about that shortly after the tragic events of June 13 2023. We decided it did not meet our referral criteria because the contact had not been recent and no conduct issues were identified for any individual officer.

“Nottinghamshire Police subsequently carried out an internal review of matters linked to the warrant and we have now also requested details of that learning exercise, in case there are any issues that would require our involvement.”

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